Diane Cardinal

Financial Aid

Diane Cardinal has worked at Algonquin for 26 years, and has been a Bursary Officer in Financial Aid for over a decade. She shows an incredible amount of compassion and empathy on a daily basis for students in need, and goes above and beyond to help them. In her role as Bursary Officer, she disburses monetary aid to students who are trying to make ends meet in order to continue their studies. She goes to great lengths to find a suitable bursary for each student, but what makes Diane shine is the additional work she does to assist these students in dire need.

In one instance, a student’s basement apartment was flooded and his furniture ruined – Diane managed to find someone who could not only donate furniture, but also deliver it to the student’s home. In a similar instance, a married couple did not have nearby laundry facilities, or a car – once again, Diane found someone to donate a washer and dryer and had them delivered to their door. She has shown that she is personally invested in each student she sees, having spent her own money on bus tickets for students that couldn’t make it home, and gathered food for students who could not get groceries.

Diane’s support and dedication to student success is truly outstanding, and she has made an impact on countless Algonquin student’s lives. On a regular basis she helps students out of desperate situations by finding them the assistance to continue on with their studies. She is an exemplary employee who shows dedication, loyalty, respect, and most importantly, a big heart.

Nominated by: Sandy Green, Graham Thompson, Martine Plouffe, Deborah Buck, Donna Hibbard, Lisa Lamb, Jan Strickland
Presented on: December 18th